Process of making gas.



No. 744,218. -PATENTED NOV. 17, 1903. L. MOND.

PROCESS OF MAKING GAS.

APPLIOATIOF FILED FEB. 27. 1902.

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No. 744,218. PATENTED NOV. 17, 1903.

L. MOND.

PROCESS OF MAKING GAS. APPLICATION FILED FEB. 27. 1902.

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UNITED STATES I Patented November 17, 1908.

LUDWIG MOND, OF LONDON, ENGLAND.

PROCESS OF MAKING GAS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 744,218, dated November 17, 1903. Application filed February 27, 1902. Serial No. 95,976. (No model.)

To aZZ whom, it 77tCY/y concern.- 7 Be it known that I, 'LUDWIG' MOND, a citizen of England, residing at The Poplars, 20

wood, and other combustibles containing a considerable amount of moisture or combined water and also from bituminous coal containing a large amount of volatile constituents. With gas-producers for these purposes there are three essential conditions that require to be fulfilled in order to insure the practical economical working there'of.- First, it is es-- sential that the largest possible proportion of the gases generated shall be of a permane'nt i. 6., non-condensablenature; secondly, it is important that the large amount of steam given off in drying and distilling the fuel should be utilized in the production of gas and ammonia from the fuel, and, thirdly, that thevaluable ammonia-vapor generated should be collected with as little loss as possible.

All gas-producers heretofore employed leave much to be desired in the fulfilment of any of these conditions. They are generally either so arranged that the whole of'the volatile constituents and aqueous vapor given. off by distillation from the upper part of the charge in the producer pass away with the ordinary producer-gas from the lower part of the charge, resulting in the production of a large proportion of non-permanent gases and tarry vapors that are subsequently condensed and cause considerable loss, as also obstruction inthe conduits, or the gas-producers are so arranged that the whole of the distillation products and ammonia given off at the top of the charge are led down to the bottom, so as to pass up through the incandescent zone of the producer in order to be converted into permanent gases, by which arrangement nearly the whole of the ammonia produced is decomposed and lost.

By means of mypresent improved construction I obtain the advantage that while the volatilegases produced by distillation are effectually converted into permanent gases nearly the whole of the ammonia produced is taken off without becoming decomposed.

The essential feature of the new construction consists in that the upper part of the producer-chamber is divided by partitionvwalls, that penetrate down to a certain extent into the charge of fuel, into three compartments, of which the middle one is filled with checker-work or loosely-piled materials, such as bars of iron or fire-brick, and communicates at the top with the discharge-flue for carrying off the producergases. The two side compartments have at the top the hoppers for feeding in the fuel, and they are provided with side openings from which pipes or flues lead down toa central chamber near the bottom of the producer opposite the inlets for the forced air-supply. In the pipes or fines are steam-injectors,'by means of which a certain quantity of the gases distilled 0d at the top of the producer are drawn off and propelled down into the said central chamber, whence they issue through openings and rise up through the incandescent fuel, together with the ordinary producer-gases, and pass with these as permanent gases up through the before-mentioned central compartment filled with checker-work. Instead of injectors fans might obviously be employed to force the gases and vapors. The above-mentioned injectors also have the effect of accelerating thedistilling process, as they draw a certain portion of the hot producer-gases through the freshly-introduced fuel, thus imparting their heat thereto. The remainder of the gases or vapors and ammonia given off by distillation in the two side compartments and which are not drawn off by the injectors are drawn by the draft of the flue of the central compartment past the partition-walls into the IOC this heat, which is, however, not suflicient to cause the decomposition of the ammonia which passes off with the gases.

I will now more particularly describe the construction of the producer for carrying out the above-described operations, referring to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 shows a vertical longitudinal section through the producer, while Fig. 2 shows on the left side a transverse section on line X X of Fig. 1 and on the right side a transverse section on line Y Y.

This gas-producer is preferably square or rectangular in plan, two opposite side walls a a being perpendicular and extending without any openings down to the ground and the other two opposite walls I) b sloping toward each other at the lower part of the producer. The air-supply under pressure is introduced at c c, and the ashes are removed at e e. The openings through the sides I) b are closed at the bottom by a water seal at cl of sufficient depth to counterbalance the pressure under which the air is forced in at c c. The ashes are taken out from underneath the water, and the producer may be provided with a step-down fire-grate, as at f, when the fuel employed gives very fine ashes, or with any other convenient fire-grate; but I prefer not to have any fire-grate at all, but simply to let the ashes assume the natural slope of repose which forms the zone of first contact with the blast, as shown at y.

The upper part of the producer is divided into the three compartments h h 1' by two walls 9 9, supported on arches t, extending a certain distance down into the producer, as shown. The gas is taken out of the producer through the middle compartment 1) and fluepipe .9. The fuel is fed by hoppers jj into the two outside compartments h h and is kept a few feet above the lower edges of the walls g. I provide an opening at k in each of these outside compartments above the level of the fuel, and I connect these openings by means of a channel or pipe Z with a horizontal chamber m, placed in the center of the lower part of the producer and at right angles to the perpendicular walls a of the producer, which chamber is provided with openings 10 w in the middle of the producer. This chamber can be made of fire-clay in the shape of a retort or built of fire-bricks or any other suitable material and may be covered at the top by a V-shaped hood 0, which prevents the openings m from being choked up or filled by the fuel and ashes outside. In each of the pipes or conduits Z, leading from the top compartments to the bottom chamber, '1 insert an injector z, by means of which currents of the hot gas generated in the producer are drawn through the raw fuel contained in the two compartments and pass along with a portion of the products of distillation out of the top of the compartments h and are forced into the bottom chamber m, whence they escape through the openings to below the hood 0 and pass through the hot fuel in the body of the producer. The chamberm is provided at one end with a door 19, so that the chamber can be cleaned from the outside of the producer without interrupting its regular working. In this way the distillation of the raw fuel in the two outside compartments is very quickly and eifectively carried out, because the hot producer-gases drawn by the injectors and brought into direct and intimate contact with the raw fuel supply the heat necessary for this distillation. In the case of fuels containing large quantities of moisture or combined water this water is readily carried off as vapor, together with the products of dis tillation, and passes through the incandescent zone in the center of the producer, thus effecting a considerable saving in steam that would otherwise have to be provided from external sources for the production of gas and for the recovery of ammonia.

Another great advantage of the distillation of the fuel before it descends into the body of the producer is that this fuel is not liable to coke together and form in large masses, which have hitherto prevented some fuels containing large amounts of bituminous matters from being used in ordinary producers. If, however, the distillation of the fuel is carried to completeness in the compartments h h, into which the raw fuel is fed, and if the whole prodnets of distillation so obtained are forced into the very hot zone in the center of the producer, the greater part of the ammonia contained in these products of distillation is dissociated and destroyed. In order to avoid this loss of ammonia, I carry the distillation in the feeding-chambers of the producer only to such a point as to drive 01f all the water and a certain portion of the bituminous matter, and in order to convert the rest of the bituminous matter into permanent gases I fill the center compartment 11 between the two Walls a little distance above the incandescent fuel with a checkered pile of brick or metal bars or the like, as shown at g, which may rest on shoulders formed in the wall or may be supported in any other convenient way. This checkerwork becomes heated from 500 to 700 centigrade by the hot producergases passing through it and the gas distilled from the fuel below the walls 9, containing tarry matters and ammonia, becoming heated to the temperature mentioned in passing through the checker-work q. The tarry matters in these gases are to a very great extent converted into permanent gases, and the remainder becomes changed into an easily-condensable tar. If this center compartment between the two arches is not of sufficient capacity to effect my purpose to the extent desired, I continue the center compartment 2' above the top of the side compartments hby carrying the brick walls forming this compartment to any desired height, as shown at r, and filling the chamber extended in this way with checker-- manent gases, and then forcing the said permanent gases with the remainder of the gases given off during distillation through a chamber heated to a temperature sufficient to convert the said remaining'gases given off into permanent gases without decomposing the ammonia present.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing wit- IIGSSBS.

. LUDWIG MOND. Witnesses:

ALBERTO CERATOLI, A. E. DAVIES. 

